Joan of Arc was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

named after the French saint

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

. They formed in 1995, following the breakup of Cap'n Jazz. Singer Tim Kinsella has been the only permanent member of the group; he has also recorded as a solo artist. Joan of Arc are known for their use of electronics, samples, and multi-track recording in their songs; some songs on ''The Gap'' contained over 100 tracks. Joan of Arc's lyrics and cover art are often intentionally misleading, humorous, or confusing. For example, the album '' Live in Chicago, 1999'' is not a live album, but a reference to the fact that the band lived in Chicago in the year 1999. Members of Joan of Arc have been in many other bands including Friend/Enemy with Califone's Tim Rutili;

American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

with Kinsella's brother Mike; Owls, a Cap'n Jazz reunion; Ghosts and Vodka; Everyoned, Love of Everything, Aitis Band, Doom Flower, Hydrofoil and

Make Believe Make believe, also known as pretend play, is a loosely structured form of play that generally includes role-play, object substitution and nonliteral behavior. What separates play from other daily activities is its fun and creative aspect rather t ...

Biography

Formation/Jade Tree Records (1995-2003)

Joan of Arc began as a band named Red Blue Yellow. They broke up after their first show, threw away all of their old material, and started afresh with new songs and a new name. Three months later, Joan of Arc had their first show at Autonomous Zone in Chicago. After two promising 7" singles, the band recorded their debut album '' A Portable Model Of...'' on the Jade Tree label. ''A Portable Model Of... '' introduced JOA's signature sound: a fondness for stark acoustic songs combined with subtle electronics. The debut album also included some harder material and collaborations with former Cap'n Jazz guitarist and

The Promise Ring The Promise Ring was an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is recognized as part of the second wave of emo. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: '' 30° Everywhere'' ...

singer

Davey von Bohlen Davey von Bohlen (born August 11, 1975) is an Americans, American musician and songwriter. He is best known for serving as lead vocalist and guitarist of the emo band The Promise Ring and also as guitarist and backing vocalist in short-lived cul ...

and Euphone's Ryan Rapsys, who would later drum for Owls following the departure of Mike Kinsella. In 1998, Joan of Arc released ''

How Memory Works ''How Memory Works'' is the second full-length album by the American band Joan of Arc. It was released in 1998 on Jade Tree Records. The artwork of the album suggests that it is something of a companion to the debut album, '' A Portable Model Of.. ...

''. The album included what would become a hallmark of Joan Of Arc's subsequent output: interludes of synthetic noises cut with vocal samples and off-beat instrumentation. As always, Kinsella's lyrics were cryptic and oblique, though the song 'This Life Cumulative' made reference to the media alienation of singer/songwriter Fiona Apple. Significant to this shift was the influence of member Jeremy Boyle, whose work with laptop and various software and hardware was a part of his broader multimedia artistic training at the University of Illinois-Chicago's School of Art and Design. Following the departure of Mike Kinsella, Erik Bocek, and the addition of Todd Mattei, Joan Of Arc found themselves thrust unwillingly into the spotlight by the sudden success of a Jade Tree retrospective by Kinsella's former band Cap'n Jazz. Despite being heralded as a pioneer of a diverse genre known as '

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

' (a term rejected by Kinsella), Joan of Arc's next album was a reaction to this unwelcome classification. The songs on the album were slower and contained more spacious arrangements thanks to a newly found fondness for studio trickery. The album's artwork depicted recreated scenes from Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film ''Weekend''. The release of ''Live in Chicago'' also marked the increasing media perception of Joan Of Arc as a 'difficult' band, an impression that would dog Kinsella in particular throughout the band's existence. Negative critical reaction to Joan of Arc would become especially apparent after the release of ''

The Gap The Gap may refer to: Places Australia * The Gap, New South Wales, a locality near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales * The Gap, Northern Territory, a suburb of Alice Springs, Northern Territory * The Gap, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland ...

'' in 2000. Reminiscent of the most dancing accents of "Live in Chicago", JOA created some of its poppiest and most danceable songs, with only rare occasionally recognizable instrumentals. This increasingly progressive studio-heavy masterpiece was neither listened to seriously by the music press nor by Jade Tree themselves. As a result, growing tensions within the group, indifference from their label, and a poorly-received follow-up EP led to Joan Of Arc's breakup in May 2001. Tim Kinsella then formed a group called Owls, a reincarnation of the original Cap'n Jazz lineup. After recording the album with

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

in 2001, the departure of Mike Kinsella and Victor Villareal led to the Owls' breakup. Left without a band once again, Tim Kinsella started working on songs for a solo album. After completing the album with help from Sam Zurick and Mike Kinsella, Tim Kinsella decided that since all three had played in Joan Of Arc, it should bear the name Joan of Arc. The album, much different from the conceptual madness of ''The Gap'', instead consisted of guitar-driven tracks with journal-like observation from Tim Kinsella. Heralded as a return to form, '' So Much Staying Alive And Lovelessness'' became the band's last on Jade Tree. Later that year, Joan Of Arc released ''

In Rape Fantasy And Terror Sex We Trust ''In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust'' is the sixth full-length album by Joan of Arc, released in 2003 on Perishable Records. The songs were recorded in the same sessions as '' So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness'', and the album is thoug ...

'' on

Perishable Records Perishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili in 1993.Califone's Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella, and was produced by

Califone Califone is an experimental rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed. Roots & Crowns review AllMusic Califone has released an album and feat ...

. Although the songs had been recorded during the same sessions as '' ... Lovelessness'', they were darker and more collage-based. According to the website

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, on ''

'' "Joan of Arc ... once more surpassed themselves as artists".

Reformation/Polyvinyl (2004-2017)

To tour the albums in 2003, Tim Kinsella organised a new lineup including Bobby Burg, Nate Kinsella (Tim's cousin) and Sam Zurick, who would also double as his side-project

. After a live album recorded in Germany and a split EP with Bundini Brown (of Tortoise and Gastr Del Sol), the band assembled a huge team of collaborators for 2004's '' Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain'' on Polyvinyl Records. This effort was largely well-regarded and a significant step forward for a new incarnation of Joan of Arc. For the album '' Presents Guitar Duets'' (Polyvinyl Records), Tim Kinsella rounded up ten former members of Joan Of Arc and others like Tim Rutili. Each was paired off with a partner by pulling names from a hat. Each pair then had to record a guitar duet together, and the styles vary from standard acoustic plucking to droning, looped soundscapes. The track-names are identified only by the faces of the pair who play on the track. In 2006 Joan of Arc released a compilation of rarities entitled " The Intelligent Design Of..." which compiles songs from singles, splits, and compilation released from the band's career up until that point. Shortly after Joan of Arc released "

Eventually, All at Once ''Eventually, All at Once'' is the tenth studio album by Joan of Arc, released in 2006 on Record Label Record Label. It was recorded at the home of Donna Kinsella in Buffalo Grove, IL. It is, according to a 2018 interview, Tim Kinsella's least fa ...

", which is largely acoustic, and features members that have been involved throughout the history of Joan of Arc, which was coupled with an EP entitled "Many Times I've Mistaken". This EP features two songs from Eventually All at Once but with full bands, and slightly differed arrangements, which continues to showcase the band's eclectic style. In 2007 the "Orchard Vale" soundtrack was released, which was another experimental release for the band, and is also directed by Kinsella. In 2008 Joan of Arc Released "

Boo! Human ''Boo! Human'' is an album by Joan of Arc, released in 2008 on Polyvinyl Records. In May and June 2008, the band promoted it with a cross-country US tour with 31Knots 31Knots is an American math rock band based in Portland, Oregon, United States ...

" on Polyvinyl Records. It is a more cohesive album than many of their others, and uses 14 musicians to help create this soundscape. The band's next effort, "

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

", partially abandons the more straightforward song writing from Boo Human, and favors a more experimental setting. The next two releases were in the form of "Joan of Arc Presents ..." which indicates an even more loose collective of people that create the album, while Tim Kinsella serves as chief instrumentalist and songwriter. One of the two, titled "Don't Mind Control", features songs from nearly every artist that is associated with Joan of Arc, and was couple with the Don't Mind Control showcase which featured many of the bands in a live setting. "Oh Brother" featured an eclectic ensemble as well, but with the format of four nearly twenty-minute songs that form a collage of sound. In contrast to Joan of Arc's next release, ''Life Like'', these albums are completely different. " Life Like" marks a point of returning to basics of a sort, with a four-piece band, and is coupled with more regular touring than any recent incarnations of the band.

Present day

In September 2010,

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an a ...

released a JOA 10-album complete cassette box set. Contained in this collection are the 10 full-length studio albums from JOA, beginning with 1997's "Portable Model Of" Jade Tree and ending with 2009's "Flowers"

Polyvinyl In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted vinyl () monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Examples Vinyl polymers are ...

. Though JOA continued to release full-length LPs with Polyvinyl, Tim Kinsella began releasing his more bizarre, amorphous, experimental work through

, beginning in 2011 with "Oh Brother" described as a "combination of four distinct albums embarked upon but never completed by Joan of Arc," with collaborative personnel ranging from

Zach Hill Zachary Charles Hill (born December 28, 1979) is an American multi-instrumentalist and visual artist. He is best known as the drummer and co-producer of the groups Death Grips and the I.L.Y's, and as the drummer of math rock band Hella. Art In ...

(

Death Grips Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride (vocals, lyrics), Zach Hill (drums, production, lyrics), and Andy Morin (keyboards, pr ...

Hella ''Hella'' is an American slang term that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is used as an intensifying adverb such as in "hella bad" or "hella good" and was eventually added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' in 2002. It is possibl ...

Face Tat ''Face Tat'' (stylized in all caps) is the second full-length studio album by American recording artist Zach Hill. It was released on October 19, 2010. Reception ''Face Tat'' received positive reviews from critics upon release. On Metacritic ...

), Rob Lowe (

Pinback Pinback is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California. The band was formed in 1998 by singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow, who have been its two consistent members. They have rel ...

Goblin Cock Goblin Cock is an American heavy metal band from San Diego, California, United States, started by Rob Crow of the band Pinback. Musically, they play a form of doom metal/drone metal with rather unusual lyrical subjects, including pop culture so ...

) and others in a sprawling, ambient instrumental, double-LP. Other solo & experimental work has work appearing on

, quickly followed including ''Lightbox'', ''Joan of Arc Presents Joan of Arc'', the self-titled album (known colloquially as the '

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

Album'), ''Pinecone, Tim Kinsella Sings the Songs of Marvin Tate by Leroy Bach Featuring Angel Olsen'' and other projects. Kinsella was awarded an artist residency at Joyful Noise in 2015. His residency boxed-set included: ''Issues EP'', ''Firecracker in a Box of Mirrors LP'', Joan of Arc's Greatest Hits 7", ''JOA 99'' LP, ''Hunky Dory TK'', and the book ''All Over and Over''. ''Hunky Dory TK'' was an electronic collage composed entirely of samples from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's classic, orchestral pop album, ''

Hunky Dory ''Hunky Dory'' is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 17December 1971 through RCA Records. Following the release of his 1970 album, '' The Man Who Sold the World'', Bowie took time off from recording and tourin ...

,'' performed as part of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago's 2015 exhibition "David Bowie Is". In 2017, Joan of Arc released their full-length studio LP '' He's Got the Whole This Land Is Your Land in His Hands'' on

. Though provoking controversy or critical dismissal in some quarters, it is widely considered to be among JOA's most ambitious and most nearly fully realized "grand experiment." In 2018, Joan of Arc released their 20th album, ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

''. Unusually for a Joan of Arc album, Melina Ausikaitis stands in for Tim Kinsella as lead vocalist. "We were thinking of it as a ate periodBlack Flag record, where Melina would sing a song, then the next song was a jam," said Kinsella, describing the structure and sequencing of the material appearing on the album. In honor of the album's release,

produced a version of George Orwell's dystopian novel of the same name, '' Nineteen-Eighty-Four'', that substituted the names of the Joan of Arc band members for all of the major characters (''

Winston Smith Winston Smith may refer to: People * Winston Smith (artist) (born 1952), American artist * Winston Smith (athlete) (born 1982), Olympic track and field athlete * Winston Boogie Smith (born ), American man killed by law enforcement in 2021 * Winst ...

-> Tim Kinsella, O'Brien -> Bobby Burg, etc.'') and set the story in Chicago (instead of London), posting the revision on 1984.com for a limited time. On September 23, 2020, the band announced their final studio album titled ''Tim Melina Theo Bobby'', which was released on December 4, 2020.

Musical style

Their musical style has been described as

, post-rock, post-hardcore, and

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

Band members

Final line-up * Tim Kinsella – lead vocals, guitar (1995–2020) * Bobby Burg – bass (2004–2020) * Theo Katsaounis – drums, percussion (2008–2020) * Melina Ausikaitis - backing and lead vocals, guitar (2012–2020) Past contributors * Sam Zurick – bass, guitar (1995–1998; 2002-2003 (studio only); 2012) * Erik Bocek – guitar, bass (1995–1998) *

Mike Kinsella Mike Kinsella (born March 4, 1977) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. Having been involved in many Illinois-based bands, he is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the emo band American Football. Kinsella's first musical ...

– drums, electric guitar (1996–2005) * Paul Koob – (1997–1999; 2012) * Todd Mattei – (1998–2005; 2012) * Victor Villareal – guitar (2010–2012) * Jeremy Boyle – guitar, keyboards (1995–2001; 2016–2019) * Josh Abrams * Leroy Bach * Amy Cargill * Matt Clark * Even Hydzik * Emmet Kelley *

Nate Kinsella Nate Kinsella (born March 19, 1980) is an American musician who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. Nate's musical resumé is vast, including most notably projects such as American Football, Joan of Arc, Make Believe, Mata Hari and De ...

* Elizabeth Remis *

Cale Parks Michael Cale Parks, otherwise known as Cale Parks, is best known for his role as the multi-faceted drummer, percussionist, pianist and vibraphonist of the indie band Aloha on Polyvinyl Records. In the summer of 2006, Cale Parks released his firs ...

* Liz Payne * Mark Trecka * Azita Youssefi *

Ben Vida Ben Vida (born 1974) lives and works in New York. He holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Bard College. As an artist and composer, he has been an active member of the international experimental music community for two decades with a long list of collab ...

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums *'' A Portable Model Of...'' (1997) *''

'' (1998) *'' Live in Chicago, 1999'' (1999) *''

'' (2000) *'' So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness'' (2003) *''

In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust ''In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust'' is the sixth full-length album by Joan of Arc, released in 2003 on Perishable Records. The songs were recorded in the same sessions as '' So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness'', and the album is thoug ...

'' (2003) *'' Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain'' (2004) *'' Presents Guitar Duets'' (2005) *'' The Intelligent Design Of...'' (2006) *''

'' (2006) *''Presents Orchard Vale'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) *''

'' (2009) *''Presents Don't Mind Control'' (2010) *''Presents Oh Brother'' (2011) *''Presents The Joan of Arc Lightbox Orchestra Conducted by Fred Lonberg-Holm'' (2011) *'' Life Like'' (2011) *''Presents Joan of Arc'' (2012) *''Presents Pine Cone'' (2012) *''Joan of Arc'' (2012) *''Testimonium Songs'' (2013) *'' He's Got the Whole This Land Is Your Land in His Hands'' (2017) *''

'' (2018) *''Tim Melina Theo Bobby'' (2020) Live albums *''Live in Muenster, 2003'' (2004) *''The Free Will Set You Truth (Live Recordings 1996-2018)'' (2020) EPs *'' How Can Any Thing So Little Be Any More?'' (2001) 7"/Splits *'' Method And Sentiment 7"'' (1996) *'' Busy Bus / Sunny Sun 7"'' (1997) *'' Rabbit Rabbit Split 7"'' (2003) *'' Bundini Brown Split 12"'' (2004) *''Many Times I've Mistaken 7"'' (2007) *'' My Summer-Long High Wipeout 7"'' (2008) *''Meaningful Work 7"'' (2010) *''Theme Song From Rainbo 7"'' (2017)

References

External links

Joan of Arc on ArtistDirectJoan of Arc Pictures
- Taken from a show at Great Scott in Allston, MA, 2006.
Joyful Noise Recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joan Of Arc (Band) Emo musical groups from Illinois Indie rock musical groups from Illinois American post-rock groups American post-hardcore musical groups Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2020 Musical groups from Chicago Polyvinyl Record Co. artists Jade Tree (record label) artists Joyful Noise Recordings artists